Energy and Power

News about Energy and Power, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 12, 2015

NASA mission, scheduled for imminent launch, will make first detailed measurements of an area of colliding magnetic fields that sit about 38,000 miles above Earth, in effort to assess any possible disruption of satellites and power grids. MORE

Feb. 26, 2015

European Commission says its proposal to accelerate efforts to creat energy union is important step toward unifying European Union countries and reducing dependency on Russian natural gas; proposal's most serious challenge overcoming fact that bloc's countries zealously guard their control over national energy systems. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

American Energy Innovation Council, group of executives that includes Bill Gates and Jeffrey R Immelt, urges federal government to increase energy research as strategic national priority; says by not spending enough on research it is risking goals of cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy poverty. MORE

Jan. 16, 2015

Sec of State John Kerry, making his first official visit to fellow NATO member Bulgaria, vows that United States will help country gain energy independence from Russia; Bulgaria relies on Russia for 85 percent of its gas and 100 percent of its nuclear fuel. MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

China makes important move toward goal of having carbon emissions peak by 2030 by announcing energy strategy that will cap coal consumption at 4.2 billion tons and reduce coal usage to no more than 62 percent of their total mix in 2020; coal burning is largest factor impacting global climate change and China is largest contributor to greenhouse emissions in the world. MORE

Oct. 8, 2014

Many companies worldwide are working to figure out how to store energy generated by renewables for future use. MORE

Jun. 3, 2014

International Energy Agency releases report showing that total of $40 trillion in capital investment, with $8 trillion more for energy efficiency, will be needed through 2035 to supply world's energy needs; report also notes that even that large amount of investment will not solve the industry’s problems. MORE

Jun. 1, 2014

Pres Obama, in what may be his last, most sweeping effort to remake America in his time in office, will roll out plan to tackle climate change; high stakes are involved in his move, using executive powers to slash carbon emissions by coal-fired power plants in United States without approval from Congress. MORE

May. 31, 2014

New York City expands voluntary pilot composting program to several parts of Brooklyn and Queens; idea is to divert roughly 3.2 million tons of food waste that New Yorkers send to landfills every year, at a cost of $300 million, to compost; new National Grid facility at Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, scheduled to break ground this summer, will eventually turn methane derived from residential compost into enough natural gas to heat as many as 5,200 homes in Brooklyn. MORE

May. 30, 2014

Op-Ed article by Prof Jody Freeman warns that legal challenges could tie up rules governing carbon emissions from power plants that Pres Obama is expected to announce; notes rules are part of effort to transform nation's power sector by driving new investments in efficiency and renewable energy; laments that due to Congress's paralysis on issue, country's climate and energy policy is being determined by court battles between federal government and industry. MORE

May. 7, 2014

Thomas L Friedman Op-Ed column contends Pres Obama should offer Republicans the Keystone XL Pipeline as well as expanded oil drilling and fracking in exchange for energy reforms, such as a revenue-neutral carbon tax; maintains that reforming energy policy will give United States leverage against Russian Pres Vladimir V Putin and would help both Europe and Ukraine. MORE

May. 2, 2014

International energy companies say Egypt has failed to pay them for pumping its petroleum, creating a vicious circle of nonpayment, noninvestment and diminishing production; Egypt no longer produces enough energy for the soaring domestic demand and its deeply subsidized prices; still, nation is unwilling to raise prices for fear of setting off unrest and is unable to buy enough fuel to meet the current demand. MORE

Mar. 30, 2014

Jack Hitt The Idea column explores research by Prof Daniel Nocera, who has developed promising energy source based on synthetic photosynthesis; notes that while prototype is functional, questions remain on how to efficiently convert the resultant hydrogen into electricity; holds that similar dilemmas hold back many other revolutionary technologies. MORE

Mar. 19, 2014

Thomas L Friedman Op-Ed Column imagines that renewed Cold War dynamic between Russia and the United States could inspire the US to pursue a new energy policy that could weaken the oil-and-gas-autocracy of Russian Pres Vladimir Putin; holds that added strategic element could provide impetus for a grand bargain between Democrats and Republicans. MORE

Jan. 19, 2014

West Virginia Sen Joe Manchin III continues to fight against what he says is overzealous regulation of energy in the state, even as residents are still reeling from a chemical spill that left more than 300,000 people without usable water for days; state has long had fierce opposition to environmental regulations, with its strong ties to coal and chemicals; spill has raised concerns among residents about the state's attitude toward regulations. MORE

Dec. 13, 2013

Pres Enrique Pena Nieto is on verge of rewriting Constitution to open Mexico's national oil, gas and electricity industry to private investment; move, expected to lure international oil companies and expand North America’s energy supply, would be biggest economic change in Mexico in decades; legislation declares that Mexico still owns oil, but allows private businesses to drill for oil and gas in partnership with state monopoly. MORE

Dec. 4, 2013

Op-Ed article by author and policy wonk Bjorn Lomborg underscores need for cheap fossil fuels in poor nations, which need such energy sources to lift people out of poverty; urges Western nations to step up investment in research and development of cleaner, alternative technologies, but charges that they should not stand in the way of poor nations as they turn to fossil fuels like coal. MORE

Sep. 26, 2013

Nez Perce Indians of Idaho were drawn into the national brawl over the future of energy in August 2013 when they tried to stop a giant load of oil-processing equipment from coming through their lands; tribal leaders defend their actions by linking their protest to the fate of indigenous people everywhere, to climate change and to questions of economic power and powerlessness. MORE

Sep. 19, 2013

Germany's efforts to promote wholesale shift to renewable energy sources is running into problems in execution that are forcing Germans to come face to face with the costs and complexities of sticking to their principles. MORE

Sep. 17, 2013

Methane hydrates, icy constructs of water molecules with explosive gas methane trapped within, can be found in sediments throughout world; such sediments could prove abundant source of fuel if they can be tapped safely and economically; scientists are studying hydrate-containing sediments, but say that much remains unknown. MORE

Jul. 11, 2013

Energy Department report finds that nation's entire energy system is vulnerable to increasingly severe and costly weather events driven by climate change. MORE

Apr. 25, 2013

Next decade may transform energy consumption and production in United States, particularly given how energy landscape has changed in last decade; United States could become major oil exporter, and there could also be more widespread use of alternative sources of energy like solar power, wind and natural gas. MORE

Apr. 25, 2013

Pres Obama and his cabinet have done little thus far in his second term to address climate change and energy, despite his promises of assertive leadership on these issues shortly after his re-election. MORE

Mar. 28, 2013

International Monetary Fund study says developing and industrialized countries should rein in energy subsidies that totaled $1.9 trillion in 2011 to ease budgetary pressures and free resources for public spending in areas like education and health care. MORE

Nov. 3, 2012

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds talks with governors of country's 16 states on developing nationwide strategy for renewable energy; move comes as energy prices are rising and opposition is critical of her government’s efforts. MORE

Oct. 24, 2012

Pres Obama and Mitt Romney have persistently attacked each other on energy policy, framing the issue as one of economic revival, but many elements of their platforms are strikingly similar; observers contend that market dynamics and global economic forces, rather than politics, will be the true arbiters of America's energy future. MORE

Oct. 24, 2012

Many cities and towns across America, seeking to reduce their carbon emissions, have adopted performance contracts with energy service companies that have no upfront costs, allowing them to pay for projects over time using savings on utility bills; deals have freed municipalities to pursue a variety of green energy goals. MORE

Sep. 30, 2012

Mitt Romney's energy agenda in the presidential campaign is far different than the one he outlined in his early days as governor of Massachusetts; Romney's policies gradually became more conservative as his tenure as governor came to an end indicating a shift taken in order to become a more viable Republican presidential candidate. MORE

Jun. 10, 2012

Op-Ed article by Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, observes that America is now a more significant energy producer than it was as recently as 2008; contends that the nation must update its political discourse in a way that reflects the variety of sources of energy at its disposal, as well as how energy development can be used for job creation and economic growth. MORE

Apr. 13, 2012

Pres Obama will attend the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, where he will participate in discussions with Latin American leaders on trade, energy and drug trafficking; the agenda stands in stark contrast to a previous gathering in 2009, when the global economic crisis compelled leaders to focus on weathering the economic downturn. MORE

Apr. 11, 2012

Energy innovation requires uniquely long-term thinking, taking decades to impact the marketplace after a significant investment in initial capital; hydraulic fracturing was in development for more than 20 years before it revolutionized the American energy market with cheap natural gas. MORE

Oct. 26, 2011

Unconventional fossil fuels extracted by new technologies should bring hundreds of billions of barrels of recoverable reserves to market in coming decades and shift geopolitical and economic calculations around the world. MORE

News Analysis

Congress is poised to act on the first bill to increase vehicle fuel efficiency significantly since 1975 and on the first economywide bill to address global warming since scientists raised the alarm in the late 1980s.

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Elevator shafts accounted for much of the heat loss in New York City buildings, leaks that cost owners money and have detrimental environmental effects, according to a study by the Urban Green Council.

Multimedia

Devon Energy’s lawyers and lobbyists drafted letters and provided them to Attorney General Scott Pruitt to send to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department and even President Obama directly. Most of those letters were signed by Mr. Pruitt and sent with few changes. Here is one example, obtained through open-records requests.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that demand for oil will rise in the developing world over the next quarter-century. But demand is likely to fall in the developed world, particularly if countries adopt conservation policies as they have generally said they will, although often without providing specifics.